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Should You Make These Modifications To Your Concealed Carry Pistol?

by Editor - Jun 17, 2017

1 412

We all want some basic things in our everyday carry weapon. We want accuracy and dependability. We want it to be small enough to hide but also carry enough rounds. We want it to be a little bit of everything good in a small pistol.

But, even if you buy the “perfect” pistol, you may want to consider modifying a few things. Here are four things suggested by offthegridnews.com that you may want to consider when you’re ready to modify your weapon:

1. Trigger

The first and most important thing to consider modifying on your gun is the trigger. Most pistol triggers are set for a five- to six-pound pull. That’s okay, but there’s a reason why competitive pistols have light trigger pulls. That’s because a lighter trigger is less likely to cause you to jerk or pull your gun off target.

Not all guns give you the capability of changing out the trigger or of lightening the trigger pull. But if you can, it’s well worth it.

2. Controls

Your two other main controls on any semi-automatic pistol are the slide lock and the magazine lock. Typically, these are designed to be as non-obtrusive as possible so that they don’t hang up when drawing the pistol. But those minimalist designs also may be harder to find and operate when you need to do a quick magazine change.

Extended slide and magazine release controls can speed up your mag changes, shaving as much as a second off your time. That second is critical in competition, but it’s even more critical in the only competition that really counts — when someone is shooting at you.

Speaking of easing magazine changes, adding a flared magazine well also can speed your mag changes. There are several manufacturers who supply these, in both polymer and aluminum. They help eliminate any fumbling that can happen while trying to find the mag well with your magazine.

The only other real control that most pistols have is the safety. Once again, this can be worth changing out to make the gun easier to use.

3. Sights

One of the most customizable areas of any firearm is the sights. The plain iron sights that come on most handguns are fine for short-range shooting in the daylight. The ones with white dots on them are a bit better. But neither will do you much good in a low-light situation. For that, you need something else. Besides, iron sights become harder to use the farther you’re trying to shoot.

While most defensive shooting is done at a range of five yards or less, there is a small percentage that happens at about 50 feet. Shooting with iron sights at that range is difficult at best. Doing so if you don’t have perfect vision is even worse.

4. Tactical light

The last thing you might consider is a tactical light. You’ve probably seen this in movies, where the cops have a tactical light mounted to a short rail under the barrel. Not all guns have this rail, but for those that do, having the light readily available is convenient.

Now, when you are considering upgrades to the internal components, such as the trigger, we recommend using a competent firearms repair shop. This is not something that you want to give you a problem when you are in a dangerous situation.

Also, while you can consider things like laser sights and a tactical light, you will want to be careful using these items because, when they are on, they, in essence, broadcast your location. If you do use them, term them on only briefly and immediately change positions as soon as you turn them off.

What modifications do you recommend? Tell us below.

Why You Need A Body Camera

by Editor - Mar 28, 2017

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Continue

You’ll Never Guess What You Can Get When You Buy a Car These Days…

Guns

by Editor - Jul 7, 2016

0 1309

When you buy a car from Hagan’s Motor Pool Auto Repair and Sales in Rochester, NH you get a free gift…

The most-hated gun in America right now, an AR-15 assault rifle. No joke, and if you don’t want the rifle, you can claim a 9mm pistol.

Mike Hagen, the owner, commented on the rather odd choice of gifts:

He says he’s given away four AR-15s and one 9mm handgun, an option for buyers who don’t want the rifle.

Hagan tells NH1-TV he has partnered with a nearby gun store, which runs the required background checks.

Hagan is a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan. He says the possibility the weapons he’s giving away could be used to kill civilians doesn’t weigh on him.

He hasn’t returned calls seeking information on whether the promotion began before or after Orlando.

Emphasis ours.

A crazy promotion for sure, buy something that killed 32,765 people in 2014 and get something else for free that killed about 250 people in the same year according to the FBI.

I wonder if that offer will still have success after 2016.

NOTE: The same report showed you’re 15.4 times more likely to be stabbed or beaten to death than shot with a rifle (including the AR-15).

How To Clear a Double Feed

Guns

by Caleb - Apr 16, 2015

5 10831

Whenever your gun stops shooting, or it malfunctions in anyway, the first thing you should do is tap, rack, bang. Why?

Well, the tap, rack, bang will clear 90% of gun jams. In other words, all the most common malfunctions will be cleared by tap, rack, bang, so without even looking at the gun you should try and clear it that way.

Tap, Rack, Bang is also called “immediate action” because that’s what it should be — your immediate reaction to a gun jam without diagnosing anything.

But if you find that the gun is still jammed, it’s most likely a double feed. Here’s how to clear that.

Step 1: Lock

First thing’s first. It may LOOK like the slide is already locked back because it’s not forward in the position it’s supposed to be. But you need to lock it back completely.

That means pushing the slide back and engaging the slide stop lever.

Step 2: Strip

Next, you want to strip the magazine from the gun. This could be as easy as hitting the mag release button on the gun (like you would normally do to reload) or if you have a nasty jam you may have to “rip” it out.

IMPORTANT: if you do not have a fresh magazine to replace this one with, then you need to hold on to this magazine.

Step 3: Rack

Then with the gun empty of a magazine rack the slide at least 3 times, and the gun will likely be cleared of any rounds or empty casings that had jammed it up.

Step 4: Magazine

Then you need to either A.) stick a fresh magazine back in the gun or B.) put the same magazine back in the gun if you don’t have a backup.

Step 5: Rack

Then rack the slide again after inserting the magazine. This chambers a new, live round.

Step 6: Bang?

Now is the time to assess and decide if you need to get back to shooting again.

It’s that simple guys. Five words:

Lock
Strip
Rack
Magazine
Rack

Then of course, “Bang” or start shooting again is optional, you’ll have to assess the situation and see if you need to keep sending lead down range.

Obviously this takes a little more time than the “tap, rack, bang” method, but if you get a double feed this is how you clear it.

It might one day save your life, so be sure to practice it from time to time. You can use “dummy rounds” during your dryfire practice to set it up, like you see in the picture below.

How to shoot MORE accurately than 99% of POLICE (at any range)

Guns

by Caleb - Mar 26, 2015

0 2517

One thing anti-gun people are always saying is some variation of the following lie:

“Only Military and Police should have access to guns because they are highly trained and the only ones who know how to use them safely and correctly”

You’ve heard it before right?

At first blush, it even sounds correct …

Why wouldn’t Military or Police be the best trained gun owners we have?

The problem is, it’s simply not true.

Today, we’ll talk about why … and … how you can (easily) shoot better than the police.

Turns out … Police Qualifications are a Joke …

In the words of Greg Ellifrtiz:

“To the amazement of my armed citizen friends, most police qualification courses are little more than a joke. With a full day’s worth of pistol training, I can get almost everyone to the point where they can pass their state’s police qualification course. In Ohio, our course is so easy that I blindfolded one of my retired officers and had him shoot the course. He passed.”

In fact, while minimum standards vary for each state for law enforcement officer training, the universal standard is 40-48 hours of basic training. And either annual or bi-annual requalification.

In other words, police receive about a week’s worth of training in Police Academy on how to use their handgun. Then they are tested on a qualification course and then only required to requalify on that course of fire once, maybe twice per year.

The Truth Is, The Police Regularly MISS 80% Of Their Shots!

Now, sure, being a police officer means you have access to “at least” a bare minimum of training. And if you work in the right county, you might even have more access to a shooting range and be encouraged to go there more often than civilians.

But the vast majority of Police are simply not that well trained.

And it shows …

In real life, what this means is that police can generally only hit their target about 20% of the time they are involved in a shooting. In other words, they miss about 80% of their shots!

According to an article published by the Police Policy Studies Council (a research-based, law enforcement training and consultation corporation), in Florida between 1990 and 2001, officers with the Metro-Dade Police,

“fired about 1,300 bullets at suspects, and missed more than 1,100 times. This suggests that Miami police fared no better than a 15.4% hit ratio…”

In New York City, police who used their firearms in “Gunfights, Other Shootings vs Perpetrator, and Against Dogs,” hit their intended targets only 38 percent of the time at distances between zero and two yards.

That hit rate plummits to 17 percent of the time at three to seven yards (Data gathered from 1994 to 2000.)

Your Goal Then Should Be To Shoot Better Than The Police!

Not only are these fun facts to throw out the next time someone tells you that ONLY Police should have guns because they are SO well trained …

But also, as a concealed carry holder or prepared gun owner you should work at your skills to become better trained and be able to out-perform your average police officer.

How can you do that?

Again, work on being fast & accurate at different self-defense distances:

– For distances of about 7-25 yards work on your traditional handgun accuracy. Sight alignment, sight picture, and work like crazy on your trigger press and trigger control.

– For distances of 7 yards and less, work on getting an “acceptable” flash sight picture. As I’ve explained before, this means you present the gun, focus hard on the front sight and when it’s somewhere in between the rear sights–shoot! At three to seven yards even the worst flash sighting gets center-mass hits.

And of course you need training …

Ideally, you would get more than 40 hours of training this year from a competent instructor who can teach you how to fight with your handgun. That may sound like a lot but it’s only five 8-hour days (or 2.5 weekend two-day courses) …

Even before that though, you can start training yourself by reading articles such as this one and practicing yourself at the range and practicing at home with dry fire practice and such.

In no time at all, you’ll be able to shoot more accurately than 99% of police officers.

Remember though, in a real life situation where your adrenaline is pumping and you’re scared out of your wits and it’s life and death — you’re going to only be half as good as you ever are on your best day at the range …

So always try to shoot better … be faster … more accurate … and a better with your gun.

In my next email, I’ll talk about how you can even shoot better than an FBI agent!

“Molon Labe!”

Caleb Lee

Pros and Cons of Laser Sights

Guns

by Caleb - Mar 17, 2015

5 7578

One of the “cool” modifications you can make to a firearm today is to add laser sights.

They make military and civilian versions of infared (invisible) lasers too but we’re talking about visible light ones. They are available in red or green, with green being much brighter, making it possible to see even in daylight.

There’s a debate raging over the use of these sights, basically between people who are selling them and serious firearms instructors. Of course, the sellers are talking about how much easier they are to use, while the firearms instructors are essentially pooh-poohing their claims.

I’ll have to say that a lot of the interest in laser sights has come from Hollywood, who loves to use them simply because it looks cool. Who hasn’t seen some bad guy with a red spot in the middle of their forehead, looking up as if they could see it?

Let me tell you two secrets about that. First of all, if it is on their forehead, they can’t see it; and secondly, nobody can hold their gun as steady as it looks in the movies, your laser sight is going to move around a bit.

Having shot both with laser sights and without, let me see if I can clear the air.

To start with, sighting with a laser sight is totally different than sighting with iron sights.

With iron sights, the focus is on the front sight of the gun, with the rear sight and the target out of focus. On the other hand, with laser sights, the shooter focuses on where the laser is hitting, the target. That keeps the attention of the shooter downrange, which is an advantage.

I first got interested in laser sights because I heard they’re good for people with bad eyes …

With normal bifocals, it can be hard for someone to focus on the front sight of the gun. With a laser sight, you can shoot with normal glasses or bifocals. So, if you suffer from poor vision, you may want to consider using a laser sight.

As far as other benefits, I’ll let Todd Green give his two cents as I’ve not found anyone with more experience who shoots both with and without laser sights. Todd is a ridiculously experienced pistol shooter, and 15 years ago had already put 10,000 rounds of dedicated laser training and practice in with the Crimson Trace LASERGRIPS and this is what he had to say on his forum (my comments in brackets):

The two biggest benefits in my mind are:

1. Ability to aim the gun precisely and quickly even when target focused.

Under stress, it’s very hard to overcome the natural tendency to look at your threat instead of your front sight. I practice a lot more than most folks and even for me, today, there are times in a FOF [force-on-force] scenario when I’ll break shots without a front sight focus… not on purpose, but because Byron screaming around a corner unexpectedly with gun a-blazin’ just sort of demands visual attention.

2. Intimidation factor.

While I would never count on it, both CTC and many LE agencies issuing/authorizing lasers (including the U.S. Military) have numerous documented cases of BGs [“bad guys”] who did not respond to guns pointed at them but immediately ceased hostility when a red dot appeared on their chests. It’s been suggested that many BGs, whether career criminals or veteran soldiers, get guns pointed and even fired at them all the time… obviously they survived so the fear of a gun is small. But no one mistakes the seriousness of a red dot over his heart. AgainI am not suggesting this is a sure thing or even something I consider as part of my “tactics.” But if it just happens to save me the trouble and expense of having to shoot someone, it pays for the CTCs a hundred times over.

Laser sights do have their drawbacks though.

First of all, they tell the bad guys where you are. The eye is attracted to light, so when they see that red light floating around, they’re also going to see where it is coming from and possibly take a shot at you, before you know where they are.

(It’s important to note that someone looking at you will only see a bright red “dot” — not a continuous “laser beam” like they show in Hollywood — unless the air is filled with dust or some other particles to make it visible. But it’s still a bright dot in your hand.)

If you do decide to get a laser, you’ll have to practice “light discipline” like you would if using a weapons mounted light. For example, you might not want the laser on while clearing the house — because it could give away your position — but you want it on when you’re bringing the gun up to shoot. Grip activated lasers, like the Crimson Trace LASERGRIPS, have an advantage in this regard.

Secondly, batteries have a tendency to go bad at the worst possible times. Thankfully, like most optics, the batteries have become smaller, more powerful and longer lasting, but you must remember to update them for sure.

But the biggest problem with laser sights is that regardless of how easy they look to shoot with, it’s not a crutch and you must learn to shoot with your iron sights as well …

If you choose to use a laser sight, you’d better know how to use your iron sights as a backup. What if the laser goes bad?

That means learning and practicing two different ways of aiming your guns, as well as being able to switch between the two quickly. Make sure that you take this into account, that you’ll practice with and without the laser — it’s an increase to your training time for sure.

Practicing Tactical Clearing in Your Own Home

Guns

by Caleb - Mar 12, 2015

9 5266

Tactical clearing of a building is complex enough, with all the variables that can come into play, that nobody should plan on doing it without extensive practice.

Police departments and the military have shooting buildings where they practice, shooting at dummies, with instructors on overhead walkways watching them.

Unfortunately, you and I don’t have the luxury of owning a shooting house like that and building one would be rather expensive. But we still need to practice. So, we need to find another way to do it; one that fits with the resources we have available to us.

Fortunately, there are ways that we can effectively practice, right in our own homes.

All it takes is changing the guns that we are using. Instead of using real guns, we need to be using airsoft guns.

Airsoft is a sport where guns which appear to be real fire 6mm plastic BBs. Enthusiasts of airsoft use their guns for shooting at each other in mock battles, hostage situations, terrorist incidents and yes, CQB situations as well. If they can do that, then we can use them at home.

Airsoft pellets can’t really do much more than sting a bit, unless they hit you in the eye. So, some sort of eye protection is recommended. Better is full face protection. They won’t harm your home either, although there is the possibility of knocking over breakables. To prevent that, fragile items should be put away, before doing any building clearing practice.

Since you won’t know the plans and locations of any bad guys that are in your home when you are clearing it, you need someone else to set up the bad guys for you.

Targets and Real Targets …

Print some targets and have them hang them in places where bad guys might be, without telling you where. That way, you don’t have any unfair advantage over the bad guys. That person can act as a judge as well, specifically for whether or not the bad guys have a good chance of hitting you, instead of you hitting them.

The nice thing about this system, is that it allows you to go back and think through your moves, looking for errors and better ways of doing things. You should be able to tell the times and places where you are vulnerable and then go back to find a better way of dealing with those spots.

If you want to take it a step further, get other family members or friends to be the bad guys. That way, you’re getting shot at too. Treat every hit like a real wound, forcing you to alter your movements based upon what that injury would do in real life.

The change of getting hit and not being able to complete your mission will probably cause you to act differently, especially after you’ve gotten hit a few times. Plus, the shots do “sting” a little bit, so that alone should make you not want to get hit or make mistakes and keep you from turning it into an unrealistic game where you take chances you normally would not have.

If you find that the airsoft BBs are a bit much for you, causing bruises, you can do the same thing with Nerf guns. While Nerf guns aren’t all that accurate, I’ve found that up to about ten or twelve feet they’re just as accurate as airsoft. So, if you use the sights, the shot will go where you are aiming. The gun might not seem real, but the ballistics will be real enough for your purposes. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.

What’s Different About Tactical Shooting & Why Should You Do It?

Guns

by Caleb - Mar 10, 2015

6 5204

If you’ve been going to the shooting range to practice, I applaud you.

Anyone who ever intends to use a gun to defend home and loved ones needs to get a lot of practice. Shooting at a target is one thing, but shooting at a target that’s shooting back is something else entirely.

You know, bad guys don’t just stand there at 5 to 7 yards, waiting for you to shoot them. They have a tendency to do all sorts of things to make you miss. If all you’ve ever done is shoot at a fixed target at a fixed range, you’re going to have a rude awakening when things turn real and you’re using that gun to make sure that you and your family can survive.

That’s why you need to do tactical shooting, in addition to target shooting.

Many shooting ranges offer tactical shooting events, where you can fire a tactical course, designed to simulate a real-world shooting scenario.

Tactical shoots are done against the clock, so that only one shooter is on the line at a time. This is important for safety, but it also adds an element of realism in that a real life situation will have to be dealt with quickly. You won’t have time to make sure your stance and grip are perfect. You may even end up shooting instinctively, without getting a proper sight picture. The idea is to get the bad guys, before they can get you.

So, in a tactical shoot, you’ll find:

*** Multiple targets – Bad guys, like coyotes, travel in packs

*** Targets at different distances – Nope, they don’t line up for you

*** Moving targets – If you’re shooting, you can be sure that the bad guys are either going to charge you or try to get out of your line of fire

*** Shooting while moving – Just like the bad guys are trying to get out of your line of fire, you should try to get out of theirs

*** Shooting from cover – You definitely want this. Being behind cover makes you a poor target

*** Shooting targets that are partially covered – The bad guys will try to hide as well, just to make your job harder

*** Low lighting – Bad guys like to work at times when they can’t be seen easily. It makes it easier for them to beat the rap if you can’t identify them

There are endless ways of combining these elements, making each scenario different.

Unlike a video game, you don’t get to practice the same moves over and over until you get them right. You’ve got to get it right the first time. That means moving the right way, shooting the targets in the right order and even picking the right time to reload your gun.

All these elements will make a difference that one time when it all turns real, so by practicing in some tactical training, you are making yourself ready to deal with them, when the time comes.

Look for these types of tactical shooting events at ranges near you. You might look into the “Practical Shooting” associations too who hold these types of events on a regular basis, allow you to become a member and compete against others such as IDPA, IPSC, USPSA, 3-Gun, 2-Gun, and others.

[POP QUIZ] More Guns = Less Crime (or does it…?)

by Caleb - Jan 22, 2015

1 2762

We should celebrate our current heroes — the unrecognized heroes that are still fighting for freedom today.

Enter John Lott.

“Who the hell is John Lott?!?!” you’re probably wondering. I’ll show you…

As every gun owner in America owes John Lott a debt of gratitude. Lott is an economist and political commentator whose book, More Guns, Less Crime, makes the definitive case AGAINST “gun control” and for the private ownership of firearms.

Lott’s work gets cited alongside that of criminologist Gary Kleck because both men have worked very hard to provide actual statistical proof of the validity of firearms ownership.

Photo from Wikipedia, used under creative commons license

Lott is the founder of the Crime Prevention Research Center, which Raquel Okyay called “a research and education organization that studies the relationship between laws regulating the ownership or use of guns, crime, and public safety.”

The gun control group calling itself the “Violence Policy Center” (which I think used to call itself “Handgun Control, Inc.,” a name that was deemed too honest) recently released another faulty “study” purporting to show statistical support for gun control.

Lott has worked hard, and continues to work hard, to get the word out that these “studies” (like all gun control statistics vomited forth by these anti-civil-rights groups) rely on grossly distorted figures and ridiculous leaps of logic in reaching the conclusions that that get repeated ad nauseam in the news.

Lott recently gave an interview in which he found errors like “triple counting” in the gun control data.

Lott has been endlessly vilified by liberals and “progressives,” just like Kleck has, because these men provide the ammunition we, as free citizens, need to combat left-wing lies.

I want to underscore that point: There ARE no studies to support the validity of “gun control.” When these are examined, they are all found to be lies. This is because it simply isn’t the case, in a rational world, that a person is more safe when he is disarmed and helpless.

To put it another way, the facts of reality support the idea that an armed citizen is a safer citizen because he has the means to protect himself. Liberals and progressives hate gun ownership because they hate anything that empowers the citizens to resist their attempts at creating an all-powerful cradle-to-grave state that tells citizens what to do, think, eat, and believe from the time they are born until the time they are die.

Progressives are statists who will not rest until every living creature lives under their boots and thumbs. They are allergic to facts and always prefer convenient lies.

John Lott fights to repel these lies with actual truth. It can’t be easy, and he is often giving interviews to hostile parties who make fun of him and disrespect him. He continues with his work because he believes in it and because he wants you and me to be able to protect ourselves with legal firearms.

Dedication to individual rights of this type deserves to be recognized. I applaud John Lott and I hope he continues to do his work. I hope he continues to give the liberals heartburn and I hope his statistics will fuel the defeat of progressives in many a debate for the next several years.

Thank you, John Lott, for standing with us.

What I have sitting on my nightstand (guns & gear)

by Caleb - Dec 21, 2014

1 4004

I wanted to real quick give you a quick rundown & review of my “night stand” setup …

This is actually something that I just setup recently and I forgot to tell you about it.

You see, before I had my guns closeby, but hidden away. AKA they weren’t that close to my bed … and they weren’t locked up.

And that worked well before the kids — heck when I was single I kept a handgun between my mattresses (it was never once a safety problem, but insert comments here about being young & dumb).

Anyways, I’ve always debated the practicality of locking up the guns you NEED in a life-or-death defense situation — slowing down your ability to get to them to defend yourself and your family.

However, I’m happy to report that thanks to the innovations of the free market and corresponding technology I can now trust some of the new gun security products.

So let’s get to it …

What I Have On My Nightstand …

Right now, sitting on my nightstand is a Gunvault MV500-STD Microvault Gun Safe from Amazon:

I was worried because this thing either has 5 star reviews or 1 star reviews. Some people must have got a lemon I guess, but out of 509 reviews … my thoughts are the factory probably just made a few lemons (it happens I guess, right?)

However, I took the plunge and got one because my good friend Jason Hanson trusts this same brand and make and model.

When I got it, I had to get the battery for it, then it’s a simple process to setup your own finger pad code.

NOTE: I recommend this model over the newer “finger print scanning” models or whatever (that are more expensive anyways) because I just don’t trust that the technology is there yet to accurately read your finger print if you’re sweaty, adrenaline pumping (so you’re moving your finger around because you’re shaking), and need your gun fast.

With this, you set a 4-touch code and in less than a second your safe is open and the gun is in your hands.

Now, inside this are my Sig P225 carry gun and my new (to me, lol) Ruger LCP carry gun. These aren’t even really setup for home defense, they’re my Concealed Carry guns.

Why?

Well, basically because I go to the safe, open it to get one of the guns when I leave the house. Then when I get home, I open it and stick that gun back in there when I’m taking stuff out of my pockets after I get home.

So convenient.

The great thing is this gunvault is, literally, an arms length away on my bedstand. So all I have to do is roll over and hit the code and grab the gun.

It’s ALMOST as fast as having the gun sitting right there on the nightstand.

But, if the kids ever sneak into my room when I’m not around, the guns are locked up. Which is the whole point right?

I highly recommend one of these and the next purchase I believe will be one of their bigger models so that I can fit more “stuff” in there.

I need to get a light in there and I’d like an extra mag (kind of crowded already with the two guns in there because this is the small model).

Also on the night stand are a couple of daily carry pocket knives, again for the same reason they come out of my pockets when I get home, etc

And the cell phone is typically there charging.

So the home defense plan starts with turning over grabbing the phone and getting the first gun (hand gun). Calling 911, and making my way to the home defense shotgun with the light on it (my home defense shotgun is a completely different topic and I’ll share that with you soon).

For now, if you’ve been nervous (like me) about trusting these new gunvault type gun safes — give the Gunvault Microvault a try — Amazon has a great price and you can read all the reviews there so you can see what to expect.

Ideally, I’d like to get a number of these, and place them all throughout the house — so I have access to a gun anywhere in the home — I’ll keep you updated if (and when) I do this.